The invention relates generally to the activation of debit and charge cards. More specifically, the invention relates to a method and apparatus to monitor payment card activation activity and to detect and investigate fraudulent debit and charge card activations.
When debit and credit cards (generically referred to as xe2x80x9ccardsxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cpayment cardsxe2x80x9d herein) are newly issued or reissued, they are mailed to cardholders. In most instances, the cards are mailed in an inactive state in order to prevent unauthorized use of the card by someone other than the cardholder. Typically, cards include a sticker or other label with information instructing the card recipient to contact a call center via the telephone, Internet, or other method. The person in possession of the card contacts the call center to activate the card. With existing activation systems, the cardholder must usually validate identity information to a customer representative or, in some cases an automated voice response unit. If the identity information provided by the caller matches the information at the call center, the card is authorized. In general, little information concerning the activation process is recorded and maintained. Further, no systematic or engineered devices or techniques are used to detect and prevent fraudulent activations of cards.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide a method and device to detect and investigate fraudulent activation transactions.
The invention provides an automated card activation system (xe2x80x9cACASxe2x80x9d) that includes a response unit. Upon receiving a request or telephone call from a purported cardholder, the response unit generates a message, such as a voice message, instructing the purported cardholder (xe2x80x9cPCxe2x80x9d) to interact with the system to activate the recently received card. The PC is queried for his or her card number and a predetermined amount of personal information (generally xe2x80x9crequested criteriaxe2x80x9d). The ACAS matches the requested criteria it receives in response to the queries with information obtained earlier from the true cardholder""s original card application.
The ACAS is programmed to allow the PC a pre-determined number of match attempts on the requested criteria. The ACAS maintains an attempt counter, which is initialized to zero at the beginning of a session. The ACAS may be configured to test for matches of multiple criteria. For each match attempt, the ACAS logs the information the cardholder supplied and the results of the match attempt, which can be either a success or failure. The attempt counter is incremented each time a failure occurs. When all of the criteria have been met, an activation flag is set in the cardholder""s record, an activation record is logged, and the cardholder is informed that his or her card has been activated.
Of course, a session with the ACAS may end in failure. If so, the card remains inactive. A pre-determined number of sessions with the ACAS are allowed. To track the number of sessions that a PC uses in an attempt to activate a card, the ACAS maintains a session counter. The session counter is initialized to zero upon the creation of the cardholder record, which typically occurs during the processing of the cardholder""s application. The values of the session and attempt counter are stored in a log or other record.
If either of the counter limits are exceeded, or the PC cannot correctly provide account number information to the ACAS, the ACAS 1) transfers the PC to a human operator or customer service representative (xe2x80x9cCSRxe2x80x9d) for assistance in activating the card, or 2) directs the PC to contact the card issuer directly. The fact that a transfer has occurred is logged. If the PC is transferred to a CSR, the representative determines whether to activate the card based on a set of criteria. This set of criteria is the same or similar to that used by the ACAS. The CSR may also use additional criteria and exercise human judgment in making an activation decision. The CSR""s activation decision is also logged.
Logged records are processed on a periodic basis, for example, daily, to produce a card activation report. The records may also be processed on a second periodic basis, based on criteria such as an invoice cycle, to produce an accumulated or summary card activation report. Daily and cycle-duration reports are provided to card issuers as part of an optional, subscription card activation reporting service.
The information logged by the ACAS may be sorted in a variety of ways to produce activity reports. In one embodiment of the invention, logged records are sorted first by card issuer, then card number, then cardholder to session number, then activation agent, and finally sequence number. The activation agent is either the ACAS or the CSR. The sorted records are separated into groups, where a group is all those records associated with the same card issuer, card number, session number, and activation agent. Each group is sorted in chronological order by a sequence number.
A card activation report is built using the last record in each sorted group. In nearly all situations, the ACAS generates a group of records (as opposed to just one record) for each session because records are logged for each validation match attempt and also for final activation. The last record chronologically associated with a session has the highest sequence number. The card activation report shows detailed information extracted from the last log record. This information includes the cardholder""s name, the card number, the session number, the activation agent, the personal information that was entered on the last match effort, an indication of whether the call was transferred, and an indication of whether activation was successful. The report includes a flag or other eye-catcher (such as an asterisk). The presence of a failure flag indicates an absolute failure. That is, for the subject cardholder number, on the subject day, no card was activated and there was at least one failed activation attempt. The report also summarizes the number of successful and unsuccessful sessions by the criterion (or activation method) last employed. A card activation report can be developed for each card issuer that subscribes to the ACAS.
In the case of successful activations, the report includes the last triggering action (or match). In the case of a failure during a session, facts about the last match effort are shown in the report. These facts include information that was provided to the ACAS by the PC. The ACAS include a log-viewing or user/administrative interface module that provides access to all logged information stored in the ACAS.